310
THE WEST SHORE.
of the dreaded pitfalL Sharpened stakes were sometimes
wt up in the bottom, upon which any object falling into
the pit was certoin to impale itoclf. The name is usually
billed " Pitt," tiie mistake arising from ignorance of its
origin.
The McLeod, which flows along the eastern side of
Mount Shasta, was named in memory of Alexander Rode
rick McLeod, the leader of the first party of trappers sent
by the Hudson's Lay Company into California. In the
spring of 1828 the party set out from Vancouver, and
passed up the Willamette Valley, through Umpqua and
Rogue River valleys, and across Siskiyou Mountain, fol
lowing very closely the present route of travel by land
from Oregon to California. They trapped very success
fully on the various streams of Northern California until
winter set in, when they became snowed in on the banks
of this beautiful mountain stream. Three members of
the company, the celebrated Tom McKay, Joe McLaugh
lin, son of the Chief Factor, and J. B. Pairroult, volun
teered to go to Vancouver for supplies, an undertaking of
peril in a region of which they wore entirely ignorant
After much liurdsliip and privation they succeeded in
reaching headquarters on the Columbia by following up
the eastern base of the Cascades to the Dalles. McLeod,
however, was unable to await relief, since he could not
by hunting procure a sufficient supply of food. Conse
quently ho made a c.vM of his furs, and with the. re
mainder of his company struggled through the deep snow
of the mountains and made Ids way back to Vancouver.
A party went out the following summer to secure the
furs, but found thorn all ruined by water, the rains and
melting Bnow having caused the river to rise far above
the banks it occupied when the unfortunate trappers
camped there tho fall before. Among the trapjrcrs the
stream was ever afterwards known as " McLeod River."
Years later, when white men hod settled in this region, a
well known and worthy citison, Ross McCloud, a surveyor
by profession, lived on this stream, and the similarity of
pronunciation in the two names lod to the common error
of supposing that his name was the one the river bore,
and thuB it stands upon tho maps. It is an error that
should be corrected, and the name of the first white
trapjer to penetrate that region should be handed down
in history associated with the mountain stream upon
whose banks he and his jmrty suffered bo much.
The McLood River is a Batsman's paradise, teeming
with the gamiest trout The forests which clothe the
mountain sides abound in deer, boar ami the smaller
game, while on the sides of Mount Shasta are occasion
ally wvn the celebrated mountain sheep, whose agility
has won for thorn such a fabulous roputatiou for leaping.
Professor Muir, who has carefully studied the habits of
thorn animals in their uative wilds, asserU that their
rejxrted feat of Imping down precipices and lauding
upon their hard and elastic horns is untrue; that their
bodies an so heavy that such an effort would result in
complete transformation of the animal from a sheep to a
conglomerate mass of horns, bones, mutton and wooL
They do, however, manage to slide down almost perpen
dicular declivities, and to maintain a high rate of speed
along the steep side of a bluff on a trail it would be
impossible for a man to follow. Their midden disapj
ance in this manner led to the stories so commonly
related of them. Many tourists who visit Mount Shasta
cross over to the McLeod and enjoy a few days of fishing
and hunting along that matchless stream, whose seclusion
from settlement and remoteness from the usual lines of
travel have preserved it in its primeval condition. Near
the mouth of the stream, where the stage road skirts it
for some distance, the United States Fish Commission
maintains a hatchery, where the spawn of several kinds
of food fish are hatched and prepared for distribution.
It is this establishment which keeps the Sacramento so
well stocked with the royal salmon. The falls, of which
we present an engraving, are some distance up the stream,
nnd are among the most beautiful of the numerous water
falls of the Western mountains. Worthy of the deepest
admiration, their Beclusion hides them from the eyes of
all, save the few lovers of Nature who make a special
effort to reach them. '
.
Our engraving of the Idaho, the Alaska excursion
steamor, surrounded by masses of floating ice. represents
one of the phases of a trip to our northern possessions.
ihe traveler along the Alaskan coast has all his previous
ideas of the fitness of things constantly outraged. With
ice surrounding his vessel, he sees the densest of green
foliage on the shore, back of which rise hicrh mountains.
in whose gorges lie masses of perpetual snow and ice.
Everywhere Nature seems fitful and eccentrio in her
conduct, appearing to delight in setting Winter and Sum-
mer together by the ears and mixing them up in a most
promiscuous and confusing manner. Such quantities of
ice as shown in the engravincr are not seen in Alaskan
waters except in Glacier Bay, the scene of the illustra-
uon, ana at other points where glaciers enter the sea,
since the temperature of the wAtnr in W Wli for their
long existence in the solid state. Navigation of that
region is not attended by the danger from floating ice
bergs, which render an nnrilmia fha nrntara nf iha Nnrtll
w r TVUVVsAO VJk - v -
Atlantic, The Japan Current maintains the water and
i i . ... ... ,
uuuospuere at a temperature which quickly works tneir
dissolution.
In Southern Orncrnn iimt ooof tlm PnonJo Ttnnffe.
lie tlie Klamath lakes, Wo large bodies of water joined
i 1 1 . . . . . . .
w-Kciiier vy a snort ana turbulent stream known as "1M
River." This is the nmirA nt M.a Tnomofli llivar Rnolled
w uu jasuujuvu - i t
"Tlamath " by Fremont, Wilkes and other early explor-
rs ana pioneers, that representing more accurately tlie
Indian Dronunemtinti Tim i,
tlie Klamaths and Modocs, the former occupying the
nx.M.. 1 i . . 1
ui-psr ana me latter the lower portion, and exteuumg
eastward hovniwl Ti ti. j il. t t.iu The'
former were also known as " La Lakes," a title bestowed
upon them by the Canadian trappers because of their resi-'
dence near the lakes, and also as "Muk-a-luks" wl
"Luuaini," their true tribal name. They are now gathered,